Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ceroba drags her hand along the wall, stopping before the entrance. She listens to the faint sobs, and looks down.

She forces herself into the coffin room, she looks at her newly wed husband. Starlo sits on Clovers coffin, legs off the edge. His hat sits next to him while he cries. On top of the coffin, just above the golden plaque that reads Clover there lays a fresh bouquet of assorted flowers.

"Oh, deputy, you should've been there.." he drags out of his throat, he can barely talk. At this point he hasn't noticed the figure standing in the doorway. Ceroba stands timidly.

"Deputy, I'm married now, and there's nothin' more I woulda wanted than to ask ya to be our son..." he confesses, Ceroba chokes down a sob of her own.

Starlo pulls out a handkerchief and wipes the plaque.

"There ya go darlin'! Yer all shiny, so everyone who comes round this room will know yer legacy..." He says, tears drip from his face onto the newly cleaned plaque.

"Oh... Clover, you... I loved ya, I still do..." Ceroba decides to make her presence known. Tears drip from her own eyes, she moves the hat and sits next to Starlo.

"We'll always love them," she adds, looking at Starlo. He bursts into harsher sobs, laying his face on her shoulder.

"He t-told me, he didn't have a daddy back round his home... told me.. I was the closest thing they ever had to a father..." Ceroba squeezed him tightly, trying to overcome her own feelings about Clovers uneasy home life, "I don't think I'd make a good daddy, but he trusted me. God damn!" He screams. Ceroba comfortingly rubs his back. She looks at him with a sympathetic expression.

He gazes towards the other coffins, letting his eyes linger, "those other babies got no one coming for 'em, we'll come and so'll Martlet an' Dalv; but no one comes for 'em" he looks at Ceroba, she takes a deep breath, she barely whispers: "Clover came for them."

"Damn right he did!" Starlo stares at Clovers plaque, he wipes off the tears from it and silently reads the text, "Clover why couldn't ya be less selfless..." He starts to sob into Ceroba's shoulder again.

"If.. If we're still alive when the last soul has been collected, you know that he'll come back, right?" Ceroba comforts, she kisses his head, "there's hope, Clover showed us that there's always hope," Starlo raises his head, and she wipes his tears away.

"Do.. y'a really think I'll getta see 'em again?" Ceroba nods, she takes a deep breath.

"The bodies, they're in a limbo," she explains, "part of the kings plan too, he, he wanted them to have a second chance when we got to the surface. The bodies haven't decayed, nor will they age. It's like they're in a coma," Starlo looks at her witj eyes filled with hope.

"We might see our little justice again?" Ceroba nods, and smiles softly.

"Yes, he and all the other children will have the choice to let their souls dissipate into dust, or the remerge with their bodies," she lets go of Starlo, and takes his handkerchief. She walks towards another coffin.

Ceroba runs her hand along the well crafted wood, she pulls the handkerchief towards the plaque, and wipes it clean.

"Oh..." she gasps, Starlo gets up and grabs his hat.

"What happened?" He grits out, pulling his six shooter out. Ceroba raises her hand, and motions for him to put it away.

"It's just a plaque, but it has no name," she says solemnly, "just... a soul attribute..." Ceroba's eyes water, "is it cruel that I didn't cry tears over Clover, but I am over this unnamed child? Clover died loved, and we still love him," she glances at the fresh flowers, knowing that by next month when they die, they'll be replaced with new ones.

She rests her forehead against the plaque, "I don't reckon it's cruel," Starlo admits, "you're right, Clover, we mourn his presence, but not their life," he pauses and looks at Ceroba with a small smile, "does that make y'any sense?" Ceroba nods, moving from the coffin.

"I don't think I can bear to stand here any longer," Ceroba confesses, Starlo embraces her.

"I'm sorry ya dragged yerself here for me," he says, Starlo exits the coffin room, with Ceroba in tow.

"I dragged myself there, I-I had a feeling," she looks down, "you have the spirit of a father, of course you'd want to keep Clover updated," Starlo kisses her hand and looks up at her with a cheeky smirk.

"Someday I'll be the father of yours," he provides, smiling wide. Ceroba whacks his hand away, blushing intensely.

"Star! I swear you-!" She laughs as Starlo pulls her into a warm embrace, "how do you do that? Where you so easily slip out of your sorrow..?"

"Well, Clover ain't alone, I needed to let it out, but my Clover ain't want me crying over him all day," he pauses, and looks away, "I just, I push it back, I don't think I could handle thinking about it all the time," Ceroba

"Well I reckon' we oughta get going," he says.